Child safety seat

ABSTRACT

A child safety seat having storage space includes a seating base, an armrest base, and a storage structure. The armrest base is disposed on a side of the seating base. The storage structure is disposed on the armrest base. A first storage space is formed inside the storage structure.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/985,284, filed on Nov. 4, 2007 and entitled “Storage Unit for Child'sSafety Seat” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a child safety seat, and morespecifically, to a child safety seat having storage space.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A traditional child safety seat usually has a complicated safety designfor protecting a baby from being hit in a car accident. However, besidesthe said safety design, other auxiliary structures on a child safetyseat for helping parents take care of the baby or allowing the baby todo some recreational activities are not commonly seen. Thus, how to makea child safety seat more convenient in use should be a concern in safetyseat structural design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a child safety seat comprising a seatingbase; an armrest base disposed on a side of the seating base; and astorage structure disposed on the armrest base, a first storage spacebeing formed in the storage structure.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial diagram of a child safety seat according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged diagram of the armrest base and the first storagestructure in FIG. 1, and the first storage structure is in a firstposition.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagram of the armrest base and the second storagestructure in FIG. 1, and the second storage structure is in a firstposition.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged diagram of the first storage structure in FIG. 2being contained in the receiving space of the armrest base, and thefirst storage structure is in a second position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged diagram of the second storage structure in FIG. 3being contained in the receiving space of the armrest base, and thesecond storage structure is in a second position.

FIG. 6 is a partial diagram of a child safety seat according to a secondembodiment of the present invention, and the storage structure is in afirst position.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the storage structure in FIG. 6 being located ata second position.

FIG. 8 is a partial diagram of a child safety seat according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the storage structure in FIG. 8 being containedin the armrest base and located at a second position.

FIG. 10 is a partial diagram of a child safety seat according to afourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a lateral diagram of disposing an upper lid on the armrestbase in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a partial diagram of a child safety seat according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged diagram of the armrest base in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an assembly diagram of the child safety seat in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a partial diagram of a child safetyseat 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 1, the child safety seat 10 comprises a seating base 12, apivot shaft 14, two armrest bases 16, 18, a first storage structure 20,and a second storage structure 22. The seating base 12 is used for ababy seating. Two armrest bases 16, 18 are connected to two sides of theseating base 12, respectively. Please refer to FIG. 2, which is anenlarged diagram of the armrest base 16 and the first storage structure20 in FIG. 1. The first storage structure 20 is disposed on the armrestbase 16. The pivot shaft 14 is passed through the armrest base 16 andthe first storage structure 20 so that the first storage structure 20 isconnected to the armrest base 16 in a rotatable manner. As shown in FIG.2, in this embodiment, the first storage structure 20 is a hollowfan-shaped structure, on which a pull tab 24 is projected formed. Afirst storage space 26 is formed in the first storage structure 20. Thefirst storage space 26 is used for storing objects commonly used in babycare, such as toys and baby products, or for allowing a child sittingthereon to put his personal items. A receiving space 28 is formed in thearmrest base 16. Please refer to FIG. 3, which is an enlarged diagram ofthe armrest base 18 and the second storage structure 22 in FIG. 1. Asshown in FIG. 3, a receiving space 30 is formed in the armrest base 18.The second storage structure 22 is slidably mounted in the armrest base18. The second storage structure 22 may be a drawer-shaped structure, onwhich a pull tab 32 is formed. A second storage space 34 is formed inthe second storage structure 22. The second storage space 34 may be alsoused for storing objects commonly used in baby care, such as toys andbaby products, or for allowing a child sitting thereon to put hispersonal items.

More detailed description for the child safety seat 10 is provided asfollows. Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 at the same time. When a user(e.g. a baby sitting on the seating base 12, or a baby care giver) wantsto take the objects stored in the first storage space 26 of the firststorage structure 20, the user may simply need to pull the pull tab 24on the first storage structure 20 to make the first storage structure 20take the pivot shaft 14 as a rotating shaft to rotate to a firstposition shown in FIG. 2 relative to the armrest base 16. Thus, as shownin FIG. 2, the first storage space 26 of the first storage structure 20may be exposed outside the receiving space 28 of the armrest base 16 forallowing the user to take the objects from the first storage space 26easily. Similarly, when the user wants to take objects stored in thesecond storage space 34 of the second storage structure 22, the user mayalso need to pull the pull tab 32 of the second storage structure 34 tomake the second storage structure 22 slide to a first position shown inFIG. 3 relative to the armrest base 18. Thus, the second storage space34 of the second storage structure 22 may be exposed outside thereceiving space 30 of the armrest base 18 for allowing the user to takethe objects from the second storage space 34 easily. Please continue torefer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is an enlarged diagram of the firststorage structure 20 in FIG. 2 being contained in the receiving space 28of the armrest base 16. FIG. 5 is an enlarged diagram of the secondstorage structure 22 being contained in the receiving space 30 of thearmrest base 18. As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, when the user does notneed to take the objects from the first storage space 26 and the secondstorage space 34, or has already put the objects into the first storagespace 26 and the second storage space 34, the user may need to push thefirst storage structure 20 to take the pivot shaft 14 as a rotatingshaft to rotate to a second position shown in FIG. 4 relative to thearmrest base 16, and push the second storage structure 22 to slide to asecond position shown in FIG. 5 relative to the armrest base 18. As aresult, the first storage structure 20 and the second storage structure22 may be contained in the receiving space 28 of the armrest base 16 andthe receiving space 30 of the armrest base 18, respectively. At thistime, the first storage structure 20 and the second storage structure 22may match the armrest bases 16 and 18 in shape to form a part of thearmrest base 16 and a part of the armrest base 18, respectively, forproviding an armrest function cooperatively. Furthermore, it should bementioned that disposal of the first storage structure 20 and the secondstorage structure 22 may be not limited to the said structural design ofthe aforementioned embodiment. For example, disposal of the storagestructure on the armrest base may be changed. One of the first storagestructure 20 and the armrest base 16 and the second storage structure 22and the armrest base 18 may be disposed on two sides of the seating base12 respectively. In addition, one of the first storage structure 20 andthe armrest base 16 and the second storage structure 22 and the armrestbase 18 may be disposed on one side of the seating base 12, wherein acommon armrest structure in the prior art may be disposed on anotherside of the eating base 12.

Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a partial diagram of a child safetyseat 50 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.Components mentioned in the first and the second embodiments representcomponents with similar functions or similar structures. The differencebetween the child safety seat 50 and the child safety seat 10 is astorage structure and armrest base design. The child safety seat 50comprises the seating base 12, an armrest base 52 disposed on a side ofthe seating base 12, and a storage structure 54. The storage structure54 is connected to the armrest base 52 in a rotatable manner. A firststorage space 56 and a second storage space 58 may be formed ondifferent planes of the storage structure 54. As shown in FIG. 6, thefirst storage space 56 and the second storage space 58 may be used forstoring objects commonly used in baby care, such as a baby bottle, adrink bottle, and so on. The storage structure 54 is rotatable between afirst position shown in FIG. 6 and a second position shown in FIG. 7.When the storage structure 54 is located at the first position shown inFIG. 6, the storage structure 54 may is lay down at a side of thearmrest base 52 and has substantially same plane with the seating base12. As a result, the first storage space 56 of the storage structure 54may be located at the outside of the armrest base 52 with its openingfacing up. When the storage structure 54 is located at the secondposition shown in FIG. 7, the storage structure 54 is standing on thearmrest base 52 for providing an armrest function cooperatively with thearmrest base 52. At this time, the second storage space 58 may belocated on the armrest base 52 with its opening facing up for allowingthe user to put or take the objects easily. Thus, no matter whether theuser rotates the storage structure 54 to the first position shown inFIG. 6 or to the second position shown in FIG. 7 relative to the armrestbase 52, the storage structure 54 may provide the corresponding storagespace accordingly. In this embodiment, the storage structure 54 furtherhas a third storage space 60 formed at a side of the first storage space56 for storing objects of different shapes.

Next, please refer to FIG. 8, which is a partial diagram of a childsafety seat 100 according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention. Components mentioned in both the third and the secondembodiments represent components with similar functions or similarstructures, and the related description is therefore omitted herein. Thedifference between the child safety seat 100 and the child safety seat50 in the second embodiment is a storage structure and armrest basedesign. As shown in FIG. 8, two sides of the seating base 12 of thechild safety seat 100 have the same structure. For simplicity, moredetailed for the structure of one side of the eating base 12 is providedas follows. The child safety seat 100 comprises the seating base 12, anarmrest base 102 disposed on a side of the seating base 12, and astorage structure 104 pivotally connected to the armrest base 102. Areceiving space 106 is formed on the armrest base 102, and a storagespace 108 is formed on the storage structure 104. When the user does notneed to use the storage function provided by the child safety seat 100,the storage structure 104 may be located at a second position, shown inFIG. 9, and contained in the receiving space 106 of the armrest base102. At this time, the storage structure 104 may match the armrest base102 in shape and form as a part of the armrest base 102 for reducingspace occupied by the storage structure 104. As shown in FIG. 9, thestorage structure 104 has a pull tab 110, and the armrest base 102 has aside wall 107 that defines one side wall of the receiving space 106.Thus, when the user wants to put a suitable object into the storagespace 108, the user may simply need to pull the pull tab 110 of thestorage structure 104 to rotate the storage structure 104 an angle(about 270°) to a first position shown in FIG. 8, and then the storagestructure 104 may lean on the side wall 107 horizontally. Thus, thestorage space 108 of the storage structure 104 may be located on thearmrest base 102 with its opening facing up for allowing the user to putthe objects in easily.

Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention, the storagestructure and the armrest base may be formed integrally instead of thesaid structural design employing two independent parts. For example,please refer to FIG. 10, which is a partial diagram of a child safetyseat 150 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.Components mentioned in both the first and the fourth embodimentsrepresent components with similar functions or similar structures, andthe related description is therefore omitted herein. The child safetyseat 150 comprises the seating base 12, an armrest base 152, and astorage structure 154. The storage structure 154 may be a cup holder orother structure for storing objects. The storage structure 154 may beintegrally formed on the armrest base. As shown in FIG. 10, a side ofthe armrest base 152 opposite to the seating base 12 has an extendingreceiving structure 156 for containing book-sized objects. The number ofthe said storage structure may be increased to two or more based onpractical application needs (as shown in FIG. 10). In addition, in theembodiment of the armrest base being formed with the storage structureintegrally, a movable lid may be additionally disposed on the armrestbase 152 for object protection. For example, please refer to FIG. 11,which is a lateral diagram of disposing an upper lid 158 on the armrestbase 152 in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 11, the upper lid 158 is connectedto the armrest base 152 in a rotatable manner. When the upper lid 158rotates to a position shown in FIG. 11 relative to the armrest base 152,the upper lid 158 may cover the storage structure 154. In other words,the user may open or close the upper lid 158 according to the directionsindicated by the arrows shown in FIG. 11 for taking out of, or puttingobjects into, the storage structure 154.

Finally, please refer to FIG. 12, which is a partial diagram of a childsafety seat 200 according to a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention. Similar components mentioned in the fifth embodiment and theabove embodiments represent components with similar functions or similarstructures, and the related description is therefore omitted herein. Thedifference between the child safety seat 200 and the child safety seatsin the said embodiments is that an armrest base in the fifth embodimentmay be disposed detachably on a seating base. The child safety seat 200comprises a seating base 202, a storage structure 204, an upper lid 206,and an armrest base 208. An engaging slot 210 is formed on a side of theseating base 202. A first opening 212, a second opening 214, and a hole216 are formed on the walls that defines the engaging slot 210. Thestorage structure 204 and the armrest base 208 are formed integrally,and the upper lid 206 is connected to a side of the storage structure204 in a rotatable manner for covering the storage structure 204. Thearmrest base 208 is detachable coupled with the engaging slot 210.Please refer to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 at the same time. FIG. 13 is anenlarged diagram of the armrest base 208 in FIG. 12. As shown in FIG.13, the armrest base 208 comprises a button structure 218, a protrudingstructure 220, a hook structure 222, and a handle 224. The buttonstructure 218 and the protruding structure 220 are disposed on twobottom parts of the armrest base 208, respectively. In this embodiment,the button structure 218 comprises an elastic arm 219 and a bump 221formed on an end of the elastic arm 219. The bump 221 of the buttonstructure 218 and the protruding structure 220 are used for engagingwith the first opening 212 and the second opening 214, respectively,when the armrest base 208 is installed in the engaging slot 210. Asshown in FIG. 13, the handle 224 is disposed on the upper part of thearmrest base 208 corresponding to the same side of the button structure218. The hook structure 222 is disposed under the handle 224. The hookstructure 222 is used for engaging with the hole 216 when the armrestbase 208 is installed in the engaging slot 210. Thus, when the userwants to install the armrest base 208 on the seating base 202, the usermay grab the handle 224 or the upper part of the armrest base 208, andthen engage the protruding structure 220 and the hook structure 222 withthe second opening 214 and the hole 216, respectively. At the same time,the bump 221 of the button structure 218 may be engaged with the firstopening 212 by elastic force provided from the elastic arm 219.Subsequently, the armrest base 208 may be secured to the seating base202 (as shown in FIG. 14). At this time, the bump 221 may protrude fromthe first opening 212 of the engaging slot 210. In such a manner, theuser may be able to take the objects stored in the storage structure 204shown in FIG. 12 after opening the upper lid 206. On the other hand, ifthe user wants to detach the armrest base 208 from the seating base 202for providing more space for the baby or reducing space occupied by thechild safety seat 200, the user may simply press the bump 221 of thebutton structure 218 to leave the first opening 212, and then pull thehandle 224 to separate the protruding structure 220 and the hookstructure 222 from the second opening 214 and the hole 216. As a result,the armrest base 208 may be detached from the seating base 202accordingly. After the armrest base 208 is detached from the engagingslot 210 of the seating base 202, the engaging slot 210 may be used forcontaining objects. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, the configurationof the armrest base and the storage structure shown in FIG. 10 may alsobe assembled to another side of the seating base 202. That is to say, anarmrest base 226 and a storage structure 228 may be disposed on anotherside of the seating base 202. The storage structure 228 may be a cupholder or other structure for storing objects. The storage structure 228may be integrally formed with the armrest base 226. Similarly, thenumber of the said storage structure may be increased to two or more (asshown in FIG. 14) according to practical application needs.

It should be mentioned that all the configuration principles and thestructural designs of the said seating bases, the armrest bases, and thestorage structures may be applied interchangeably between theembodiments of the present invention so that design variety may be givento the storage applications in the child safety seat of the presentinvention.

Compared with the prior art, in which only safety design is added to achild safety seat structure, the child safety seat of the embodiments ofthe present invention utilizes extra disposal of a storage structure onan armrest base to allow a baby care giver to put baby products or babyfavorite toys into a storage space provided by the storage structure.Thus, not only may the baby care giver easily take objects from thestorage structure when taking care of the baby in the child safety seat,but the baby may also enjoy some recreational activities via the toysstored in the storage space. In such a manner, according to the presentinvention, convenience of a child safety seat in use may be increasedconsiderably.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

1. A child safety seat comprising: a seating base; an armrest basedisposed on a side of the seating base; and a storage structure disposedon the armrest base, a first storage space being formed in the storagestructure.
 2. The child safety seat of claim 1, wherein the storagestructure is connected to the armrest base and movably relative to thearmrest base between a first position which the first storage space ofthe storage structure is used for storing objects; and a second positionwhich the storage structure forms a part of the armrest base.
 3. Thechild safety seat of claim 2, wherein a receiving space is formed in thearmrest base, the first storage space of the storage structure isexposed outside the receiving space of the armrest base when the storagestructure is in the first position, and the storage structure iscontained in the receiving space of the armrest base when the storagestructure is in the second position.
 4. The child safety seat of claim3, wherein the storage structure is pivotally connected to the armrestbase for rotating between the first position and the second position. 5.The child safety seat of claim 4, wherein the storage structure is ahollow fan-shaped structure.
 6. The child safety seat of claim 4,wherein the armrest base has a side wall that defines the receivingspace, and the storage structure leans on the side wall to be located atthe first position after rotating a predetermined angle relative to thearmrest base.
 7. The child safety seat of claim 3, wherein the storagestructure is slidably connected to the armrest base for sliding betweenthe first position and the second position.
 8. The child safety seat ofclaim 3, wherein the storage structure has a pull tab.
 9. The childsafety seat of claim 2, wherein the storage structure is pivotallyconnected to the armrest base for rotating between the first positionand the second position.
 10. The child safety seat of claim 9, whereinthe storage structure further comprises a second storage space, thefirst storage space and the second storage space are located ondifferent planes of the storage structure, the storage structure is laydown at a side of the armrest base that is located substantially on thesame plane with the seating base and an opening of the first storagespace faces up when the storage structure is in the first position, andthe storage structure is standing on the side of the armrest base and anopening of the second storage space of the storage structure faces upwhen the storage structure is in the second position.
 11. The childsafety seat of claim 9, wherein the armrest base has a receiving spacefor containing the storage structure and a side wall that defines thereceiving space, and the storage structure leans on the side wall to belocated at the first position after rotating a predetermined anglerelative to the armrest base.
 12. The child safety seat of claim 1,wherein the storage structure and the armrest base are formedintegrally.
 13. The child safety seat of claim 12 further comprising: anupper lid connected to the armrest base in a rotatable manner forcovering the first storage space.
 14. The child safety seat of claim 1,wherein an engaging slot is formed on the seating base, the armrest basebeing detachably coupled with the engaging slot.
 15. The child safetyseat of claim 14, wherein the armrest base has a first engagingstructure, a second engaging structure is disposed on a side wall thatdefines the engaging slot, and the first engaging structure is engagedwith the second engaging structure when the armrest base is installed inthe engaging slot.
 16. The child safety seat of claim 14, wherein an endof the armrest base has a button structure, the button structurecomprises an elastic arm and a bump disposed on an end of the elasticarm, an opening is formed on a side wall that defines the engaging slot,and the bump of the button structure is engaged with the opening whenthe armrest base is installed in the engaging slot.
 17. The child safetyseat of claim 12, wherein a side of the armrest base opposite to theseating base has an extending receiving structure.
 18. The child safetyseat of claim 12, wherein the storage structure is a cup-holder.